H. A. Thaler
University High School
5714 Grove Street
Oakland California
January 18, 1940
Dean of Undergraduates
University of California
Berkeley, California
Dear Sir,
I would like to recommend Peter A Wolff, who will be graduated by University High School this coming June, for a scholarship at the University.
Peter is a member of our experimental, two-hour Physical Science class and is thus in competition with some of the best minds in the school. He easily tops the group. Besides the interest and cooperation one would expect in an intelligent, well-adjusted student, Peter possesses a very rare quality of innate scholarship; it is revealed in his reading the entire chemistry book before the semester was a month old -- not as a stunt, but because he wanted to know its contents. It is revealed in his reports to the class and in his comments about them in post-mortem; these comments display a real ability at objective self-evaluation and a democratic concern over their value to the class. It is revealed in his contributions to discussions by the class; Peter seldom makes a statement which he is not prepared to support with evidence from observation or principle.
Since the above remarks are based on subjective evidence, I should like to refer to some more objective data. besides I.Q., Reading age and marks, we have also Peter's record of achievement on certain Progressive Education Association tests: Interpretation of Data, Application of Principles, and Nature of Proof. These tests measure aspects of abilities to reason inductively, deductively, and logically, respectively; they do not correlate higher than 0.5 with each other. On each of these tests, Peer stands at the head of the class -- a remarkable record.
Peter is well liked, a leader in his social group, and a good citizen. He is respected by teachers and classmates alike and it is a pleasure to speak in his behalf.
If there is any further information that I can supply, please call on me.
Yours truly,
Herbet A Thelen
Science Department, University High School